Sad news to pass along about a young man KCCI profiled this spring for a story on skateboarding safety.

Georgie Tsushima has died.

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Last year, Tsushima, an Ames High School graduate and former Iowa State student was living his dream in California working for a skateboard shoe company.

His career was sidetracked by a traumatic brain injury he suffered while skateboarding, but his recovery was going well, and he was ready to start up his life again in Ames.

It's not hard to find Georgie Tsushima online. He was very good at skateboarding, and making videos of himself and his friends skateboarding, but his life was sidetracked by a very bad fall.

Tsushima was in a coma for weeks and in the hospital for three months.

"My brain bounced off the back of my head and damaged on the front left corner," he told KCCI during an interview.

Tsushima allowed KCCI into one of his therapy sessions in Ankeny as he relearned basic skills like speaking. He said he was angry after the accident.

"Honestly, my dreams were completely crushed like things I absolutely loved to do I can't do them anymore," said Tsushima.

Back in Iowa this year and back in Ames to be near his mother therapists, Tsushima refocused on another longtime dream this past Saturday he opened the Flatland Crew Skateshop near the corner of Welch and Lincoln Way in Ames.

Saturday would be his only day in his store. He died that night.

Doctors don't know yet if his death was related to his brain injury, but it shocked his family, friends and the Iowa skateboarding community who saw a man on the road to recovery.

The past two days a steady flow of people have stopped to pay respects outside the store that represented a milestone in Tsushima's recovery and a final achievement in his life.

There will be a memorial for Georgie Tsushima on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Brookside Park in Ames across from the skate park.

As for the store that was only open one day, Tsushima's brother and some friends are trying to figure out how they can keep it open.